Highlife (cellular automaton)

Highlife is a cellular automaton similar to Conway's Game of Life.

The main reason for interest in HighLife comes from the existence of a pattern called the replicator.

Whenever two replicators try to expand into each other, the pattern in the middle simply vanishes.

The behavior of a row of Replicators interacting with each other in this way simulates the one-dimensional Rule 90 cellular automaton, where a single replicator simulates a nonzero cell of the Rule 90 automaton and a blank space where a replicator could be simulates a zero cell of Rule 90.

[1] Replicators can be used to engineer other more complex patterns, such as glider guns and high period oscillators.

A simple c/6 diagonal spaceship, found by Nathan Thompson, is known as the bomber.

Explicit examples of this design, known as "basilisks", include spaceships of speeds

[2] It had been proven that replicators exist in Conway's Life as well, before an explicit example was found in 2013.